Rush To Regulate Ecigs Could Destroy Effective Alternative

WASHINGTON, Sept. 24, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire

Last week, several organizations sent a joint letter to the President, asking him to order the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to promptly assert authority over all tobacco products not currently under its jurisdiction.

The organizations imply that the delay is resulting in negative health consequences. However, they never mention any specific consequences, and for a good reason: They are proposing a "solution" where no problem exists. Instead, enacting regulations without sufficient scientific evidence has the potential to do a great deal of harm to public health.

The Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association (CASAA) is writing the president today to urge him to advise the FDA to take the time needed to develop science-based regulations that will serve the interests of public health. CASAA is a non-profit organization that works to ensure the availability of low-risk alternatives to smoking and to provide smokers and non-smokers alike with truthful information about such alternatives.

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The Silent War Against Retail and E-cigarettes

Within the past six weeks, documents outlining New York City’s secret war against electronic tobacco were leaked to the public. The contents of the documents are hardly surprising given New York’s recent assault on items sold in convenience stores, fast-food restaurants and supermarkets.

The documents were leaked by the Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association (CASAA), an advocacy group aimed at raising awareness and protecting rights to access to reduced harm alternatives. What’s more, while tobacco and menthol flavored e-cigarettes would still be available in retail stores, all other flavored e-cigarettes could only be sold in age-restricted “tobacco bars.” Unfortunately,  New York City prohibits the operation of “tobacco bars” unless they were already in operation prior to  Dec. 31, 2001.

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E-cigarettes on the rise, but still unregulated!

Expert says e-cigarettes could be effective in quitting cigarettes or even more addictive, depending on how regulated

TOPEKA — Four years ago, when Rick Hasan first started selling electronic cigarettes, they seemed destined to be little more than a novelty, he said — the same as compact pipes and other smoking accessories available at his store.

"People were curious, but few kept buying. They would go back to the real cigarette," said Hasan, owner of Payless Smokes, a convenience and tobacco shop in Topeka. Now, "the e-cigarettes are taking up quite a bit of market share."

These days, e-cigarettes account for 15 percent of his sales, he said. Nationwide e-cigarettes are booming, with annual sales projected to reach $1.7 billion by year’s end.

The battery-operated devices — which vaporize liquid containing nicotine — have yet to be regulated by the federal government, though officials have pledged for two years now that they ultimately will be.

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Companies spend huge sums on TV ads...

Companies spend huge sums on TV ads, sponsorships to boost e-cigarette sales

NEW YORK: Electronic cigarettes may be a creation of the early 21st century, but critics of the devices say manufacturers are increasingly borrowing marketing tactics that are more reminiscent of the heady days of tobacco in the mid-1900s.

With US smokers buying e-cigarettes at a record pace — annual sales are expected to reach $1.7 billion by year's end — e-cigarette makers are opening their wallets wide, spending growing sums on TV commercials with celebrities, catchy slogans and sports sponsorships.

Those tactics can no longer be used to sell tobacco cigarettes, but are readily available to the ecigarette industry because it is not covered by the laws or regulations that affect the tobacco cigarette industry. The e-cigarette industry is also spending lavishly on marketing methods that are also still available to their tobacco brethren, including promotions, events, sample giveaways and print ads.

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Will E-Cigarettes Destroy Big Tobacco?

When I first read about electronic cigarettes, I was a non-believer. Cigarettes have been around forever, how could they be replaced by e-cigarettes? While it may not happen overnight, e-cigarettes could change the way people smoke and the way big tobacco makes money.

What's an e-cigarette?

The way an e-cigarette works may differ (according to brand), but basically, it is a device made to heat and vaporize a mixture known as e-liquid with nicotine inside a cartridge using a rechargeable battery. It has no ash, smell or the usual combustion that happens after you light up a conventional cigarette. This makes an e-cigarette 99% healthier than the alternative.

Why are e-cigarettes going to change the industry?

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Is ‘Vaping’ Better Than Smoking?

A growing number of smokers are turning to electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) to get their nicotine fix instead of smoking traditional cigarettes. Is "vaping" better than smoking? The e-cigarette industry would like us to believe that it is. But more research needs to be done, and federal regulation is needed.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) currently does not regulate the manufacture, marketing and sale of e-cigarettes. In New York State, they cannot be sold to minors, but other states are still trying to determine how to deal with this relatively new product. As Mitch Zeller, Director of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products, has said, "Right now, it's the wild, wild west." Buyer beware.

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Imperial Tobacco to Introduce Cigarette Alternative Next Year

Aug 15, 2013 by Kelly Kaderabek

Imperial Tobacco Group Plc (IMT), Europe’s second-biggest tobacco company, plans to introduce an alternative nicotine product next year in an effort to catch up with competitors such as British American Tobacco Plc. (BATS)

Imperial is “on track to launch our own products in 2014” through the Fontem Ventures unit, the Bristol, England-based company said today in a statement as it reported a 1 percent drop in underlying revenue in the nine months ended June 30.

“This is the first time Imperial has confirmed that it plans to launch something in that space next year,” said Erik Bloomquist, a tobacco analyst at Berenberg Bank in London. “It’s an important step forward for the company.”

Imperial has been trailing the likes of BAT and Philip Morris International Inc. (PM) in developing alternative nicotine products and electronic cigarettes in response to stricter government constraints on smoking.

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e-Cigarettes: Electronic cigarette business is smoking

Aug 13, 2013 by Kelly Kaderabek

Cigarettes still satisfy a lot of smokers, but after years of doctors’ warnings and countless dollars spent on packs or cartons, some are ready for a change. What they’ve found is a cheaper alternative that’s giving the cigarette something to smolder about.

Patrick Gleason, owner of Three Days Smoke Shop in Gates andThree Days Vapor Lounge in Greece, said electronic cigarettes are becoming more popular among smokers trying to kick the habit. E-cigarettes use a battery-powered heating element and flavored “e-juice” laced with nicotine to create an inhalable water vapor that looks and feels like smoke.

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FDA to Propose New Regulations on E-Cigarettes

Aug 10, 2013 by Kelly Kaderabek

From The Legal Examiner by David Mittleman:

E-Cigarettes No Better Than Regular Cigarettes

You’ve probably seen those ads for the E-cigarette, which promise to allow you to get your nicotine fix while leaving you sans-ash try smell. In one commercial for Blu E-cigarettes, Stephen Dorff tells you how you can “stop feeling guilty” when you want to light up, stop “smelling like an ashtray”, and that you can even enjoy your E-cigarette at a basketball game. Dorff also casually mentions that he’s been a smoker for 20 years, which is what I find most problematic about this commercial, and apparently so does the Food and Drug Administration.

FDA Ponders the Regulation of E-cigarettes for Three Years

E-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that heat nicotine solution and create an inhalable vapor. The FDA has discussed the possibility of regulating E-cigarettes since 2010, and rightly so. The cigarette companies are likely trying to attract a new slew of smokers by first hooking them to a slightly less harmful E-cigarette with the hopes of getting them to move into the full-blown addiction.

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CNBC Article...

E-Cigarette Sales to Hit $1 Billion

Jul 31, 2013 by Kelly Kaderabek

E-cigarette

a relative novelty three years ago--are about to hit $1 billion in sales, according to Wells Fargo securities analysts.

While that's only 1 percent of sales of traditional cigarettes, the number of consumers who say they've tried e-smokes is growing fast. The sale of e-cigarettes totaled just $500 million last year.

According to the most recent survey by the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, in 2011 about 21 percent of adults who smoke traditional cigarettes said they had tried the electronic alternative, up from about 10 percent in 2010.

"Overall," says a CDC press release, "about 6 percent of all adults have tried e-cigarettes, with estimates nearly doubling from 2010."

"E-cigarette use is growing rapidly," said CDC director Tom Frieden in a February 2013 release announcing the survey's findings. "There is still we do not know about these products."

E-cigarettes, in their most popular form, look like conventional tobacco cigarettes. They do not, however, contain leaf tobacco and they do not burn. As described by CDC, they are battery-powered devices that provide inhaled doses of nicotine vapor and flavorings. Because they do not burn and do not produce smoke, their advocates consider them more socially acceptable than traditional cigarettes.

Their detractors do not. The Long Island Rail Road declared earlier this month that e-cigarettes violate LIRR's smoking ban, which declares it unlawful for railroad patrons to "burn a lighted cigarette, cigar, pipe or any other matter or substance which contains tobacco or any tobacco substitute."

SAFER SMOKE OR NEW BAD HABIT?

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Dramatic Rise of E-Cigarettes Continues

Jul 22, 2013 by Kelly Kaderabek

NEW YORK -- Electronic cigarettes have continued to pick up steam, with Lorillard Inc.'s blu leading the way.

Blu eCigs

In Wells Fargo Securities LLC's recent "Tobacco Talk" survey, 80 percent of respondents indicated the category accelerated in the second quarter vs. the first quarter with annual growth topping 30 percent. "Tobacco Talk" surveys tobacco retailers and wholesaler contacts representing more than 45,000convenience stores.

"Retailers have become incrementally more positive on [e-cigarettes] and continue to praise blu noting that its advertising and marketing efforts are driving growth to the entire category," said Bonnie Herzog, managing director of tobacco, beverage and consumer research at Wells Fargo Securities.

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FDA faces important decisions on regulation of e-cigarettes

Jul 17, 2013 by Kelly Kaderabek

The FDA faces a dilemma as electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, grow in popularity, according to researchers.

The agency initially tried to block the sale of e-cigarettes, claiming that they were unapproved “drug/device combinations.” Manufacturers successfully challenged the FDA's position, but in a 2010 ruling, a federal appeals court held that e-cigarettes could be regulated by the agency as tobacco products.

In 2010, 11.4% of U.S. smokers report ever using an e-cigarette, and 4.1% report using one within the last 30 days, the most recent data from two surveys that involved more than 6,000 people indicate. In the city of Boston, 28 permits to sell e-cigarettes were given out in June 2013, compared with only three in June 2012.

Yet many of the alleged benefits of e-cigarettes are unproven and tighter regulations to ensure the quality of the product are needed to protect public safety.

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Electronic Cigarettes: Critics slam e-cigarette classification

Jul 15, 2013 by Kelly Kaderabek

Smokeless electronic cigarettes could be taken off the European market because of a "short-sighted" vote in the European Parliament that will classify them as a medicinal product, according to critics.

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Reynolds, E-Cigarette Maker Settle Trademark Dispute

Jul 8, 2013 by Kelly Kaderabek

E-cigarette Maker Settles

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Reynolds Innovations Inc., a division of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., reached a settlement in its trademark infringement lawsuit with electronic cigarette marketer John Thompson.

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Tobacco Companies Introduce Their First Electronic Cigarettes

Jul 3, 2013 by Kelly Kaderabek

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Coming to a store shelf near you: The latest offering from some major tobacco companies is an electronic cigarette. They’ve been on the market for years, but as Health Watch reporter Stephanie Stahl show us, this is the first time tobacco companies are getting in the game.

Gregory Conley says his electronic cigarette changed his life.

“I picked up an electronic cigarette and overnight, I had stopped smoking,” Conley said.

Instead of smoking, he puffs on this.  An electronic cigarette. It uses a battery to heat liquid with nicotine. People inhale the vapor. Advocates say e-cigarettes are a great alternative to traditional cigarettes.

Advocates say e-cigarettes are a great alternative to traditional cigarettes. Conley said, “The other option for about half of all smokers is to smoke until they die.”

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12 Things The Tobacco Industry Doesn’t Want You To Know

Jul 1, 2013 by Kelly Kaderabek

Over the past couple of decades, Big Tobacco has come under fire for selling products that kill people. Now, leading cigarette producers like Philip Morris and Reynolds American are moving into the rapidly growing electronic cigarette business, touting the battery-powered nicotine inhalers as a safer alternative to traditional cigarettes.

As Big Tobacco attempts to clean up its image, we thought now was as good a time than ever to remind you of these 12 facts the industry would like you to forget:

1. Smoking-related health conditions are a leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for nearly one of every five deaths annually.

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Tobacco giants move in on electronic-cigarette makers

Jun 21, 2013 by Kelly Kaderabek

For a decade, small purveyors of electronic cigarettes have largely had the US market to themselves. Now, with sales projected to double to US$1 billion this year, brands with such names as Logic, Njoy and Vapor are waiting to exhale as giant tobacco companies begin to invade their turf.

In August, Altria Group, the largest cigarette maker in the US, will start selling its MarkTen electronic cigarettes in the state of Indiana. No2 maker Reynolds American plans a national roll-out of its Vuse electronic cigarette, beginning in the state of Colorado next month. Lorillard has boosted distribution of its Blu eCigs to more than 80,000 stores.

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